I have had exactly one disc get disc rot out of nearly 1000 discs (CDs, DVDs, games, Blu Rays) in the 30+ years I’ve used them. Most likely it was a manufacturing fault (improperly sealed). Scratches are far more common, but if you keep discs in cases that should be pretty rare too, though I have plenty of old CDs from my teenage years which look scratched but work perfectly well.
Don’t panic. Look after your stuff. To paraphrase what was printed on the inlays of CDs in the 80s and 90s ‘with proper care your disc should give you a lifetime of enjoyment’.
As someone who enjoys all three current Gen machines I can’t really understand this idea. Historically it is very rare that the most powerful system ‘wins’ a generation. It all comes down to two things: the install base and the games. PS1 wiped the floor with the competition, despite being far less powerful than N64 and with none of the recognisable IPs. PS2 was less capable than Xbox or GameCube, but dominated because it was in so many homes. The PS3 stumbled at first with its ‘throw everything in and they’ll pay anything we ask!’ attitude. What brought people back? The games!
Only just jumped back into PlayStation after a long absence. My kids are obsessed with Astro’s Playground, so Astrobot is on my radar (when I can get it for a reasonable price). Very ‘Nintendo but Sony’ vibes from what I’ve seen.
Ciri as the protagonist in Witcher 4 is a no brainer. Anyone who has read the books could see her importance, though I can understand people’s disappointment due to how popular Geralt is. Again, if you are familiar with the books she has a huge amount of development, a character arc and a well developed personality that completely sidesteps ‘girl boss’ criticism. I know there are supposed to be only male Witcher’s so I just hope that whatever is the reason that Ciri is the exception is suitably clever and satisfying.
My first PlayStation memories actually started fairly neutrally. I was a SEGA Mega Drive owner at the time of the PS1’s release. I had no interest in the Saturn, as SEGA had burned many fans with the mess of the Mega CD and 32X. I didn’t feel I could trust them to deliver. The N64 was still a while away. The PS1 was popular at school, but so were family PCs and ours could do anything the PS1 could do and more (I played Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 1&2 and Dino Crisis on PC) so it just didn’t seem that impressive. The N64 ended up being my choice and I have no regrets (4 player multiplayer every weekend with my friends on Goldeneye and Mario Kart). However, PS2 was my next system (alongside the GameCube) and was with me for a long time. I was able to go back to the PS1 games I missed (the first game I played was Resident Evil 3 as I couldn’t afford any PS2 games!) and now with PS5 I am able to do the same with PS4 games too.
Comments 3
Re: Disc Rot Already Afflicts Your Physical Game Collection
I have had exactly one disc get disc rot out of nearly 1000 discs (CDs, DVDs, games, Blu Rays) in the 30+ years I’ve used them. Most likely it was a manufacturing fault (improperly sealed). Scratches are far more common, but if you keep discs in cases that should be pretty rare too, though I have plenty of old CDs from my teenage years which look scratched but work perfectly well.
Don’t panic. Look after your stuff. To paraphrase what was printed on the inlays of CDs in the 80s and 90s ‘with proper care your disc should give you a lifetime of enjoyment’.
Re: Xbox Boss Wants to Beat PS6 on Hardware Capabilities, Not Necessarily Games
As someone who enjoys all three current Gen machines I can’t really understand this idea. Historically it is very rare that the most powerful system ‘wins’ a generation. It all comes down to two things: the install base and the games. PS1 wiped the floor with the competition, despite being far less powerful than N64 and with none of the recognisable IPs. PS2 was less capable than Xbox or GameCube, but dominated because it was in so many homes. The PS3 stumbled at first with its ‘throw everything in and they’ll pay anything we ask!’ attitude. What brought people back? The games!
Re: Mailbox: The Joy of Astro Bot, Ciri in The Witcher 4, and Terrible Trophy Lists
Only just jumped back into PlayStation after a long absence. My kids are obsessed with Astro’s Playground, so Astrobot is on my radar (when I can get it for a reasonable price). Very ‘Nintendo but Sony’ vibes from what I’ve seen.
Ciri as the protagonist in Witcher 4 is a no brainer. Anyone who has read the books could see her importance, though I can understand people’s disappointment due to how popular Geralt is. Again, if you are familiar with the books she has a huge amount of development, a character arc and a well developed personality that completely sidesteps ‘girl boss’ criticism. I know there are supposed to be only male Witcher’s so I just hope that whatever is the reason that Ciri is the exception is suitably clever and satisfying.
My first PlayStation memories actually started fairly neutrally. I was a SEGA Mega Drive owner at the time of the PS1’s release. I had no interest in the Saturn, as SEGA had burned many fans with the mess of the Mega CD and 32X. I didn’t feel I could trust them to deliver. The N64 was still a while away. The PS1 was popular at school, but so were family PCs and ours could do anything the PS1 could do and more (I played Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 1&2 and Dino Crisis on PC) so it just didn’t seem that impressive. The N64 ended up being my choice and I have no regrets (4 player multiplayer every weekend with my friends on Goldeneye and Mario Kart). However, PS2 was my next system (alongside the GameCube) and was with me for a long time. I was able to go back to the PS1 games I missed (the first game I played was Resident Evil 3 as I couldn’t afford any PS2 games!) and now with PS5 I am able to do the same with PS4 games too.